The Next Generation                 

I am pleased to refer applicants to planned litters from  related females.  
   

Solhundur Elska Ljósstjarna

Elska competes in CKC conformation and trains for future competition in flyball, agility and herding.  She is a great companion to her owner, Alisha and the children in her family.  

Alisha has started a waiting list of  people interested in a puppy from an upcoming fall  litter and is still taking applications (PDF) or download this RTF document to fill out and send by email.    
When the stud choice  and timing of the  litter is finalized I will post the information here.  

Solhundur Leika Öskadis

Leika lives with her own family in Ontario and her leisure time is divided between High Park and the cottage.  Leika's owners hope to have one litter from her in Spring 2010.  Details will be posted when available.  

We plan a 3rd and final litter from Sóley in 2011.  The sire will be our co-owned male Belglen Undri Ari.  

Tindra will be health tested in April 2010 before any breeding decisions are made.

Lifelong Companions                 

We match puppies to their new families based on the results of temperament testing at 7 weeks, as well as herding potential testing at 9 weeks,  and on-going observations of their personality and behaviour.  Puppies are eye tested at  8 weeks of age by a veterinary opthalmologist. 

 Our puppies are raised in our home.  We begin the house-training process as early as 6 weeks, although it will take about a few more months for puppies to be  100% reliable  in their new homes.   Before they go to their new homes,  our pups receive their first vet visit, deworming,  and are microchipped.  We socialize the puppies extensively and give them the same start in life as we would for any performance/show prospect we were keeping for ourselves.

Our puppies are CKC registered and eligible to participate in  CKC events including Obedience, Rally Obedience, Agility, Herding and Tracking.  They are also UKC registered and eligible to compete in UKC Conformation (which offers altered classes), and other UKC events including agility and obedience.  

Great Expectations                 

From our two litters we are  proud to have placed  one puppy in a working farm home, four  pups are  in show/obedience/sports  homes, and the other puppies are active and loving companions.   All owners are pleased with the energy, intelligence and friendliness of their puppies.

 Visit this page to see our 2007 puppies!  

Visit this page to see our 2009 puppies !

A Few Questions and Answers  

How much do your puppies cost? Do your show puppies cost more? Will you sell a show puppy to a pet home?  

The cost of a Solhundur puppy is $1,200 which includes the deposit of $200.  We charge the same  price regardless of color, markings, sex or show potential.  The price reflects our costs in raising the litter.   All puppies are CKC and UKC registered.  

Our priority is making the best match for each puppy.  We will sell "show quality" puppies to pet homes (or working homes or performance homes).    Our priority is placing puppies in homes that want an active and versatile companion.  We don't keep separate reservation lists for show and pet homes and our contracts don't require  owners to show or breed their pups.

What health problems are in the breed?  What health tests do you do?

There is hip dysplasia present in the breed. Out of Icelandic Sheepdogs whose results are registered with the OFA, 14.8% are diagnosed by x-ray to have hip dysplasia.  So it is important to test the hips of every dog before breeding.   Fortunately, since the Icelandic Sheepdog is a smaller breed with an average build they may not show symptoms of hip dysplasia,  but the goal of breeding should always be to produce dogs with normal hips.  9.6% of Icelandic Sheepdogs have Excellent hips (this includes our female  Soley).    More information is on the OFA website: www.offa.org 

Like many other pure breeds, eye diseases have occurred in the Icelandic Sheepdog.  The most known disease, although not very common, is juvenile cataracts.  The cataracts may be present from a very young age or first diagnosed around 2-4 years of age.  Another eye disease that's been found in the Icelandic Sheepdog is retinal dysplasia.  This can generally be  diagnosed when the dog is quite young.  Another eye condition sometimes  found is PPM (persistent pupillary membrane) which seems to run in families.  PPM  typically doesn't affect vision, so it's the breeder's decision whether to breed dogs with this condition.  PPM may be present in very young pups, although it isn't formally diagnosed until pups are over 16 weeks of age  - pups may also outgrow the condition.

I know of some incidences of hypothyroidism and heart murmurs in the breed, these issues seem to run in families so we believe at this time it's worth testing our breeding stock.  

 We have tested and will continue to test our breeding dogs with hip exams, annual eye exams from a Board-certified veterinary opthalmologist, heart exams from a Board-certified veterinary cardiologist, and thyroid exams.   We register the results of all tests with OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) . Having the results publicly available in their open database contributes to genetic health and research for generations to come.   The Icelandic Sheepdog is one of the breeds participating in the Canine Health Information Center (CHIC) initiative.   Our two female Icelandics will be donating DNA samples to the CHIC program  and this effort could also benefit the breed in years to come.  

Do you have puppies available?  How often do you breed? 

No, we don't generally  have puppies available.   In both our litters, all the puppies were  reserved either before or soon after their birth.  

We own two female Icelandic Sheepdogs.    They are our companions first and their breeding careers are only one facet of their accomplishments.   We have had two litters from Sóley.   We decided, since she loves being a mother as much as people love her puppies, that  she will have a third and final litter in 2011.  In the meantime she will continue with rally-O and agility training and competition.   

We  will wait for the results of Tindra's health testing in April 2010 before we make any breeding decisions, but most likely we will have only one litter from her. Her sisters are in wonderful  show/performance homes and may have one or more litters themselves.  I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to contribute in this way to the breed's genetic diversity,  even though I don't keep numerous dogs and won't be breeding  annually.  

I am not currently taking applications for either of these planned litters.   Once the plans are finalized I will post an update on this page along with an application.